The chances are that you haven’t heard of Trevor Smith, or to be more precise, Professor Lord Smith of Clifton. Yet he was the prime financial and intellectual force behind the surge towards democracy in the 1990s when Charter 88 was rampant under Anthony Barnett and the Blair governments were legislating for a spate of constitutional reforms.
Smith is a man of singular entrepreneurial vision and remarkable political energy who most unusually followed through his many ideas into action. He was a political scientist of distinction when he took on the chair of the Joseph Rowntree Social Services Trust in 1987 and transformed it into the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust with a strong democratic direction. You should know that he became a close friend and colleague of mine.
